The 2014 IIHF World Championships are taking place right now in Minsk, Belarus, and we’ve seen four of the twelve days of preliminary, round-robin action. Being out of the NHL playoffs, the Buffalo Sabres naturally have a number of players in the tournament, and here’s an update on how everyone’s looking four days into the tournament.
We’ll start with the American team, which has gone 2-1 in their three games, and sits in 2nd place in Group B. Jake McCabe is the team’s lone American representative, and is currently pointless with a +/- of 0 in just over 15 minutes of ice time per game. For those interested, former Amerks goalie David Leggio is also on the American squad, and has made six saves on seven shots in some backup work to Tim Thomas.
Team Canada (also 2-1) features two Sabres on the roster, Cody Hodgson and Tyler Myers. Hodgson has one goal, while he and Myers are both +1 with one assist each in Canada’s three contests. Hodgson is second on the team with seven shots, trailing only Nathan MacKinnon.
Everyone’s favorite Cinderella story, team Latvia, is 1-1 through two games. Zemgus Girgensons is pointless so far, though Ted Nolan continues to show love for him by playing him on Latvia’s top line, and he’s earning more ice time than any other forward. Latvia plays winless Switzerland later today.
In one interesting tidbit, Miroslav Satan – yes, the 39-year old Satan – is playing for Slovakia, and has one goal and one assist through three games, averaging over 20 minutes in ice time.
We’ve still got eight games to go before the playoff rounds, but tell us, DBTBers, do you care much at all about how the team’s players perform in the World Championships, or are you too wrapped up in the NHL playoffs to pay much attention?